


Keeping Up Appearances

by Alice_h



Series: A Place of Our Own [6]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Dinner, F/F, Fluff and Humor, hiding lies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 23:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21547378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alice_h/pseuds/Alice_h
Summary: Catra and Adora have been invited for dinner with Bow and his Dads. But can Adora keep a secret from them?
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: A Place of Our Own [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1511849
Comments: 16
Kudos: 103





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I think we need something much lighter and funnier after the last one!
> 
> Busy few weeks ahead, so the second and final chapter may take a little longer than usual

“Yeah, I still don’t get why you’re all dressed up. It’s just Bow,” Catra gave her girlfriend a confused look as they walked along the street. It was almost 6pm, and the early spring sky was sporting the slightest of light on the horizon, a sign that winter was nearly over. They had been invited for dinner by their friend, and it would be Catra’s first visit to his house.

“It’s not Bow I’m dressed up for,” Adora explained, “It’s his dads.”

“His dads? You’ve completely lost me.”

The blonde exhaled, “Because I’m an idiot! Look, the first time I met them was with Glimmer and Bow introduced her as ‘Lady Glimmer of Bright Moon’. Then I panicked for some reason and said I was ‘Lady Adora of Thaymor’. So now his dads think I’m someone posh and important like Glimmer. I just never got around to correcting them and it would be really awkward to do it now. So please can you just play along?”

“Wow, you are such a dork,” Catra cackled, “But sure, I will help you lie to our friend’s parents for the rest of our lives.”

“Thank you? I think?” she turned off the street and up the driveway of a quaint-looking detached house. It was quite standard for the town, dating from the 1930s with a central door flanked by two large bay windows. They could see light peeking out from behind the curtains and from the small ornate windows above the door, reassuring Adora that someone was in. She rang the bell, and a few moments later, the sound of movement preceded the door opening.

“Ah great, you’re here!” Bow stood aside to welcome them in, “How are you both?”

“We’re good,” Adora raised her eyebrows at her girlfriend to prompt her to answer as well.

“Yeah, fine.”

The young man waited for them to take their coats off, then led them into the living room where two men were sat, side-by-side, idly watching a quiz show on the television.

“Dads, Adora and Catra are here,” he peered around to meet their eyeline.

His fathers hurriedly got to their feet, eager to greet the guests. The man with the longer hair shot in front, excitedly shaking both their hands, “Lady Adora, it is so wonderful to see you again. And you must be the lovely Catra – I’ve heard so much about you.”

“And you’re still letting me in your home?” she half-joked, the blurted-out words a nervous reaction to the unexpectedly enthusiastic reception.

“Oh! Very good. Allow me to introduce ourselves, my name is Lance, and this is my husband, George. He is the love of my life, as I’m sure Lady Adora is that of yours.”

A weary sigh could be heard coming from Bow as Catra found herself unable to do anything but nod politely. She hadn’t expected George and Lance to be quite so animated – over the top, even – given their son’s calm, quiet demeanour, and it had put her into a little bit of shock.

Lance turned back to the taller girl, bowing slightly, “And Lady Adora, it is a pleasure as always. How is Thaymor? I trust everything is well. Have you travelled much recently?”

“Darling, at least let her sit down,” his husband tried to give her a little bit of respite from the rapid firing of questions. Lance apologised for his faux pas and allowed the two girls to take a seat on the sofa before continuing.

Adora appeared to take it all in stride, “Thaymor is fine, so beautiful this time of year with the first flowers of spring starting to bloom. As for travelling, I’ve recently returned from East Asia – a bit of a whirlwind tour I’m afraid, more for business than pleasure. But I would definitely love to return and spend a couple of weeks somewhere off the beaten track. Have you ever been?”

“We have not,” Lance sat forward in his chair, “But I would really love to. Whereabouts did you go?”

Before she could answer, George stood up and almost pulled his husband up from the chair, “I think we are needed in the kitchen.”

“Oh, of course! Pardon me, Lady Adora, we will continue this shortly,” the two men left the room, and Bow, Catra and Adora were alone.

The need to say something had been building up inside Catra from the moment she had heard her girlfriend talking. She whirled her hands in front of her while the words formed in her mind, “What the hell, Adora? How are you _this_ good at lying?!”

“Just practice,” she shrugged, “Why?”

“I am both horrified and a little bit turned on.”

Her girlfriend laughed, “I have that effect on most women. It’s a skill.”

“So many hidden talents,” Catra rested her body against Adora’s, running a finger down her cheek, “I wonder what else you can do that I don’t know about…”

Bow loudly cleared his throat to remind them that he was still in the room, lest the two young women start getting any more amorous than they already were. They jumped apart, both smiling innocently at him.

“You two…” Bow laughed, “So cute together, you really are.”

Before either of them could respond to that, Lance re-entered the room, carrying a plate of food in each hand, “Come on through, we’re serving up. No Glimmer?”

“She’s not here yet,” his son answered, “But you know her, al-“

His words were cut short by the doorbell, and Bow swiftly went out of the room to answer it whilst Adora and Catra sat down in the dining room. A few moments later, he reappeared with Glimmer in tow.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, everyone. Sorry, sorry,” her face was red from the cold as she took her place at the table, apologising to everyone in turn, “There was a small disagreement between me and my mother. She’s always convinced she knows better than me, you know what mums are like…”

Bow squinted at her in disbelief, his eyes darting back and forth between Glimmer and his two fathers in the hope that she might realise her mistake. Instead, she stared back slightly confused, as the awkward silence grew.

“We grew the green beans ourselves,” George provided welcome relief from the unease, “Please, dig in.”

All six of them began to eat, the air filling with appreciative murmurs. Bow’s dads had prepared a wonderful roast beef dinner, complete with delicious looking potatoes and an array of vibrant vegetables, including the aforementioned green beans. Catra eagerly started to wolf down the food, having never had anything this good - neither her nor Adora were particularly good at cooking, and quality dinners weren't exactly a feature of her first 19 years on the planet.

“I’m sure it’s nothing like you’re used to,” Lance looked at Glimmer and Adora in turn, “But we did our best.”

“It’s wonderful,” Glimmer praised, taking another mouthful, “I’ll be honest, our current cook isn’t that good but… you know how it is.”

Adora’s eyes lit up, “I don't know how it is, actually, Glimmer. You see, we have a Michelin-starred cook at Thaymor of course, but I think the both of you could give him a run for his money.”

She startled as Glimmer kicked her under the table, then mouthed the word ‘don’t’ at her. The true upper-class young woman couldn’t believe that the ‘fake’ Lady Adora was trying to one-up her – she wasn’t going to let that happen. In fact, she thought to herself, she could have a little bit of fun with it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glimmer pulls out all the stops to see how close she can get to revealing Adora's secret

“So, Lady Adora,” Glimmer began, smirking at her friend, “How is Thaymor today? I assume you have come straight from there?”

“Uhh, yeah, of course,” Adora started shakily, but soon hit her stride, “It’s as good as it always is, you know? Always so wonderful and, uh, good.”

Glimmer nodded, deep in thought, “And how’s the weather?”

“Oh, it’s a beautiful day. Lots of sun and surprisingly warm for this time of year. I do love these sorts of days.”

“It was lovely,” Catra backed her girlfriend up, her stomach still tense with excitement at the fluidity of Adora’s lie. It was as if she genuinely believed what she was saying

“I see, I see…” the reply was laden with fake interest, “It’s just when I checked on my phone earlier, it said it was raining in Thaymor. Was it wrong?”

Adora slowly began to catch on to what Glimmer was trying to do, and whilst she didn’t want to let the girl spend all evening sniping at her, she also didn’t want her to reveal that she’d been lying to Bow’s dads from the first time she met them. She knew that it was going to be a tricky conversation to navigate, but it was still possible to keep her secret.

“No, not at all. It was raining earlier in the morning but brightened into a lovely day a little later on,” she was quite proud of the way she’d dodged that one, “So that’s probably why it said rain. Because of earlier…”

“So, um, Bow is very nearly finished with his thesis,” George changed the subject, making Adora thankful that attention was being taken away from her, “Did you tell them what it’s about?”

His son finished the mouthful of food he’d taken at the most inopportune moment, “I have, but I don’t think that the role of queer people in the Russian revolution is that interesting to them.”

“No, it is!” Adora latched on to the opportunity to keep the topic of conversation away from herself, “Please, tell us about the Russians and the, um, queerness.”

Bow looked confused. Adora had never shown anything like this amount of interest in his work, and now suddenly she wanted to know everything. Why was she only _now_ interested?

“You two can talk about that later. It’s not that interesting to the rest of us,” Glimmer dismissed Adora’s chances of an easier evening, “I would love to know more about your staff at Thaymor, given that they are _sooo_ much better than mine. Who do you have working for you?”

“Oh, you know… chefs, cleaners, gardners. The usual,” Adora’s sweet smile fought against Glimmer’s mischievous grin.

“No drivers?”

“Y-yeah, of course I have drivers.”

“What type?”

“What has gotten into you?” Bow was beginning to see what Glimmer was trying to do and tried intervening to put her off. But she remained insistent, forcing Adora to answer her questions.

“The… good type? I don’t know much about driving, I don’t handle that side of things, I’m afraid.”

Catra had remained silent throughout, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. This was hands down the best kind of entertainment, and she didn’t want it to end. Glimmer, on the other hand, was rather impressed at the way Adora managed to lie her way through the whole thing. It was time to up her game, “So I’ve only been to Thaymor once. What’s good there, _Lady_ Adora?”

“Oh well, we, uh, we have lots of stuff.”

“Like what?” Glimmer fired back immediately.

“We’ve got some great scenery and beautiful countryside.”

“I’d like to see that,” she pulled her phone out, “Where should I stay? I’ll book it now.”

Adora faltered a little, “Uh, there’s some guest houses…”

“What are they called?” Glimmer asked the question sounding like she was threatening the other young woman.

“I, um, I’ll think about that, er…”

“Give me a name Adora! Now! Name!”

“It’s called, er…”

“Adora!”

“ENOUGH!” George stood up, the one yelled word enough to put an end to the conflict, “This is absurd. We _know_ Adora is not Lady Thaymor.”

“You do?” Adora and Glimmer said simultaneously, both stunned by the revelation.

“Of course,” the man continued, “We looked it up after the first time we met you.”

Adora tilted her head to the side, “So why did you…?”

“We thought you were…” Lance struggled to find appropriate phrasing, “Well, we thought you were suffering from delusions and we didn’t want to say anything that might aggravate your condition.”

The entire table was speechless, an uncomfortable silence enveloping them until Catra broke into raucous laughter, “Bwahahahaaaa! Oh my God, Adora…Wow!”

“It’s not funny Catra!” she protested, feeling almost betrayed that her girlfriend was laughing at her.

“No, it really, really is funny. They thought… oh my God,” tears streamed down her face, which was beginning to ache from the strain of laughing so hard, “You’re such a tit, Adora!”

The two men were still confused, and it was Lance who spoke up to get clarification, “Wait, so she _isn’t…_?”

“No, she doesn’t think she’s Lady Thaymor,” Catra clarified through her hysterics, “Oh wow, this is the best thing I’ve ever seen. Total car wreck… um, oh, sorry Adora.”

Her girlfriend bit her lip as she began to see the funny side, “OK, it is kind of funny I suppose. I’m so sorry Lance, George. I wanted to tell you, really I did but it just got so out of hand that it would have been weird to suddenly admit I’d been lying all this time.”

“It’s fine, Adora,” Lance placed his hand over hers, “I’m just glad you’re not crazy.”

“Lance…” George scolded his husband’s choice of words.

“Sorry. I’m glad you’re not affected by any mental ill health?” he got an approving nod from the girl, “But I suppose that does mean that we know nothing about the real you, so please… who is Adora?”

She giggled nervously, wondering where to start, “Uh, well, I’m just plain Adora. Born and raised in Etheria. My mum and dad still live nearby but… well, we don’t really get on. I’ve got an older sister, Mara, and I’m working in a clothes shop while I’m busy applying for psychology jobs. That’s pretty much it for me, I’m not really that special.”

“Aww, you _are_ special,” Catra teased, “You’re extra special when it comes to being an absolute donut.”

“She’s not wrong,” Lance stifled a laugh, “You know you could have told us at any time, and we wouldn’t have minded.”

“I was embarrassed. I just panicked the first time I met you,” she blushed.

“We aren’t that scary. But we do forgive you. And it is very nice to finally meet you, _just_ Adora.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was a fun little interlude! 
> 
> There are meatier stories on the way, I'm going to try and get them mostly done before starting to post them though, so keep an eye out!


End file.
